Joyce Banda addresses UNDP Africa Retreat in Ethiopia

UNDP recently went through a corporate restructuring exercise resulting in the regionalization of its assets and capacities. Now the staff and capacities for Africa reside in the Regional Service Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Leadership and responsibility for supporting UNDP’s country offices in Africa, national and regional partners, civil society and other stakeholders in thecontinent will be from the Regional Service Centre.A regional retreat was organized for more than 120 UNDP staff members from all over Africa including the Associate Administrator and Under-Secretary General,

Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa and other senior leadership of the UNDP.The UNDP Regional Retreat was sought to gain a better understanding of the the drivers of change in the world and how they are affecting national developmentprocesses.Joyce Banda UNDP desires to contribute to the economic transformation that is taking place in Africa in ways that are equitable, inclusive and sustainable.Former President Banda reflected on the time she was Malawi’s and how she dealt with the challenges her and her government faced. She cited four policy areas that influenced her term of office—conflict and governance; economic management and poverty reduction; fighting corruption and accountability; and women and youth empowerment Joyce Banda.

Banda acknowledged the role and support UNDP plays in Malawi. She cited how the UN and the in country UNDP office mediated the conflict in 2010 between Malawi Government and citizen groups; and the support to elections, Joyce Banda funding of women parliamentary candidates and the National Export Strategy to strengthen the export base of the Malawian economy. She urged the UNDP and other international development partners to work with local players on the ground in order to achieve equitable, inclusive and sustainable development.